A former Father Ted actor has said that social media has caused “TV comedy to go down the drain”.
Joe Rooney, famous for playing Dublin priest Fr Damo has joined forces with Patrick McDonnell, AKA Eoin McLove, to host a new podcast that reflects on the timeless comedy show.
Father Ted ended in 1997, but it’s still iconic to this day with people of all ages being able to relate and laugh with the three priests and their housekeeper, Mrs Doyle.
But Joe thinks that comedy was at its peak back before social media and with people having less options to watch shows and movies.
He told Dublin Live: “My son would watch stuff from the 90s, he’s 24. It was a good comedy at the time, it was a good time for comedy. I’m not sure social media is great, it has kind of watered down comedy a bit. There’s some things you couldn’t do today.
“Television comedy has gone down the drain a bit, there is some good stuff. I’m not sure if it’s about the woke thing.
"Audiences for TV, back then you had to watch what was on TV because there was no internet, you had to give things a bit of time, now you can just watch something else if you don’t like it.
“Reality TV is much cheaper to make so that might be it too.”
Even though Joe was only in one episode of the show, his character made a lasting impression. He has been in Killinaskully and Red Rock, but he’s still probably most known for being Dougal's BFF.
He said: “When I got the script it was hilarious, I was a huge fan of the show and I really wanted to be in it.
“I didn’t originally audition with a Dublin accent and then they asked me to do a real Dublin accent because they saw me do it on stage before and I got the part.”
Now, he has a podcast with each episode exploring the hilarious series with contributors from the show sharing their memories, stories and insight into the iconic sitcom.
“Myself and Patrick sit and watch each episode and chat about it. We talked to an actor that was involved in it, so we’ve Ardal O’Hanlon and Arthur Matthews who wrote it,” Joe continued.
“The first episode, we chat to Pat Shortt about it, then another one is John Kenny. We talk to smaller characters too, they often have quite funny stories anyway. At the moment we’ve the first six episodes recorded.
“Then we’ll have a second season where we’ll have chats with more actors and people who worked behind the scenes, producers, directors, those who did stunts.
“It’s great to go back, it’s like when you used to have DVD’s and there’d be extra options to listen to talks with the directors and actors. It’s a bit like that.
“Looking back, it was just so funny. My favourite episode at the moment is the kicking Bishop Brennan up the arse one, but then that could change.”
Talking Ted is a Father Ted Podcast from the HeadStuff Podcast Network and you can find out more here.
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